Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Welcome to the section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Our mission is to provide the highest quality of care to children throughout Vermont and northern New York through a multi-faceted approach of direct clinical care, education, research, and advocacy.

Vermont is a tight knit community and PEM is no exception. We work closely with our community pediatricians as well as our pediatric hospitalists and specialists at the Vermont Children’s Hospital to provide excellent care. Our patients range from ambulatory pediatrics, to children with chronic medical diseases, and critically ill or injured children. We take pride in being able to provide care for the entire breadth of PEM.

Our PEM Section demonstrates a strong commitment to education with rotating residents from emergency medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine. In addition, we have an integrated role in the medical student EM rotation. On the nonclinical side, we give lectures to both pediatric and EM residents as well as participate in administrative and operational initiatives relating to quality improvement and system of care issues surrounding children presenting to the ED. We also participate in rigorous research efforts focusing on varying topics including children with medical complexity, childhood injuries, and emergency medical services for children. Lastly, we also serve as a unique voice for our patients through advocacy, extending our expertise to benefit children in the local community and beyond.

 

Dr. Ravera's PEM GEMS Podcast

PEM GEMS

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Faculty
Joseph Ravera, MD

Joe RaveraDr. Ravera graduated from UVM COM (Class of 2010).  He completed his EM residency and PEM fellowship at Harbor-UCLA.  After a year and a half of working overseas in New Zealand, he returned to Vermont and took over as subsection chief of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.  He is passionate about medical education and even has a podcast, PEM GEMS, dedicated to Pediatric emergency medicine.  Outside of the hospital you can find him outdoors with his wife (Lina) and dog (Bowser) or enjoying some quality time at home with the cat (Mario).

David Nelson, MD

Nelson peds 1 resizedDr. Nelson attended the UVM COM prior to his residency in Pediatrics at UC-San Diego and his Fellowship in Pediatric EM at Brown University in Providence, RI. He then worked in the Pediatric ED at the Children’s Hospital of Nevada from 1999 to 2019, and served as the Director of Pediatrics for the EM residency program. He has been recognized many times with Instructor of the Year awards both in Peds and in EM, and regularly lectures locally and nationally. When not “playing” at work he likes to spend time with friends and family - Diana, his wife of 26 years and 2 sons. Summers have included a week at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp as a volunteer physician for the past 20 years.

Christian D. Pulcini, MD, MEd, MPH

Pulcini image 2Dr. Pulcini graduated from Tufts Medical School in 2014, completed residency in Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in 2017, and recently completed a Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in June of 2020. His current areas of research focus are emergency care of children with medical complexity and childhood firearm injuries. He also has interests in health policy, advocacy, and medical education. Most importantly, he and his wife, Nicole, are the proudest parents of three wonderful children, Juliette, Henry, and Alice.

Molly Stevens, MD, MSCE

Stevens MollyDr. Stevens joined our team in 2020 after serving at Johns Hopkins as both the PEM Director of Clinical Research and the PEM Fellowship Director. Her prior faculty appointments include Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, after completion of the PEM fellowship and a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Stevens' academic interests include the measurement and evaluation of outcomes specific to PEM processes and treatments to better determine effectiveness within the broader continuum of pediatric clinical care. Her recent academic focus is on mentorship of EM clinical research at multiple career levels, as well as collaborating in projects to advance the patient-centered and evidence-based ED care of children in the US and internationally.